Neurodiversity – is this something you consider when you are creating your marketing content?
Here’s some practical tips to consider so you can ensure your content is more inclusive:
Text Content
Your text content should be clear and simple and you should ensure that you communicate in a straightforward and unambiguous way, accommodating users with varied comprehension abilities.
Use of Fonts
Difficult to read fonts can create barriers for neurodivergent people. Try to stick to ‘sans serif fonts’ (so no bits on the ends of the letters!), such as Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, Trebuchet, Calibri and Open Sans. These are more dyslexic friendly, as letters can appear less crowded. Font size should be 12-14 point size or equivalent.
Consistent Formatting
Consistency is important, especially for neurodivergent users who thrive on routine and structure. Consistent formatting can help to ensure that your marketing content maintains a uniform layout and design, contributing to a seamless user experience.
Use clear headings, subheadings, and organised content to ensure your content becomes easier to digest and more predictable. This can be particularly helpful for individuals with neurodiverse conditions, such as autism, who may have difficulty navigating digital content that is disorganised or inconsistent.
Colour Choices
Extreme contrast or increased brightness of content can often be a challenge for neurodiverse people to process. A good alternative is to use less overwhelming, paler shades of your brand colours for your visual content. Also, when it comes to website landing pages try to keep it simple with a clear combination of just a few colours – keeping the design less ‘shouty’ will really help.
Audio Content
Adverts with audio pop-up suddenly while browsing can often be an unpleasant surprise for neurodivergent users. So, you should factor in an easy way to reduce volume or mute an ad. Another option is using settings where videos don’t launch automatically. This gives your website users more security in deciding what content they want to interact with and also helps those visitors using screen readers.
Use Call to Actions
One clear way to make things easier for a neurodivergent audience is to make your marketing content is flexible and accessible to improve the overall customer experience.
Having clear CTAs, implementing audio reading options, and using accessible colour customisation on your website will help users to navigate better or focus their attention.
Becoming More Inclusive Can Help Your Business Grow
Not recognising that we all think and interpret things in our own unique way could mean a missed opportunity to reach a broader audience. It really is time to become more inclusive as its hard enough to get noticed amongst all the competition online these days. Just remember to consider message variations in different formats with audio, video, or text options to give more accessibility to those who need it.
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